ChineseDramaFan

If you like Chinese history (the serious stuff), this is a good watch.

OMG! How subtle and yet intelligent!

@#$%$#@!$^&* Hate men who demand devotion but not devoted themselves. T_T for the Empress.

Sure you can add me. Yes, you may want to watch with a buddy, some comfort food, tissues etc. If after this drama, you want to talk to someone, do come back to this page or send me a message. Yes, there are other dramas that can help you move on. I did. :)

My comments were many months ago :D Right, after those comments, I continued watching, and fell in love with the series. Yes, his acting improved a lot after the first few episodes, and I gave it a 9/10.

No, never explained, and even he doesn't know what he is himself. He only knows he's immortal.

Yes, you must!

Hmmm, yes and no :)

She's in love with the Emperor, and no doubt the Emperor likes her too, but both's prides are too strong and none want to reveal their own feelings for each other - all the lost time and guessing work. Sigh!

It seems the awesomely hot eunuch is in love with the Empress!

Ep 14, he seems to fall for that young dancer now, men :(

Right, 官人, not 官家. Got confused there.

It's so entertaining to watch those ministers argue over trivial matters in the royal court, and the suppressed amused look on the Emperor's face, and how articulately he defuses the whole thing without antagonizing any party. Brilliant emperor! So sick of those stupid ones :D

Absolutely! I love her character too! Compared with the other similar drama, The Story of Minglan, Cao Danshu is strong and powerful, whereas Minglan is meek and powerless (for most parts). So this drama gives a totally different feeling as far as female character is concerned. I love strong female characters. I always pull my heart out if a female character is weak and helpless.

I wouldn't think so too. I think the synopsis may have put the emphasis on the wrong characters. The characters to watch for of course remain on the Emperor and the Empress, both very lovable characters.

This is a long drama, 55 episodes. 12 episodes in, the princess has just been born and the little eunuch has just been recruited to the palace. We still haven't seen anything yet. So, hold tight!

In the old days, in-marriages were popular.

There are some political conflicts between the factions for sure, but nothing like Royal Nirvana. The conflicts here are basically some trivial matters, like what the Dowager Empress could wear, if the concubines' statuses could be raised, who should be the Empress (the ministers choose his Empress) etc (at least for now). The party that loses the argument tends to be punished by demotion and sent to some obscure places for posts, then called to return to court after some years. So far, there's nothing deadly as in Royal Nirvana. The whole show doesn't make you feel as if you're sitting on a needle rug. In fact it's very interesting (at least for me) if you like more authentic Chinese history and enjoy watching how these people speak - very poetically and use a lot of analogies in their conversations.

12 episodes in, I would say, yes, worth watching. It's a rare drama that has a lot of depth.

Indeed beautiful. Everything in this drama is beautiful!